On arrival in the Kingdom of Tonga over the weekend, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown presented Tonga’s Prime Minister, Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, with a Toki—a ceremonial adze—on behalf of the government and people of the Cook Islands. This gift marks the handover of the Forum Chair responsibilities from the Cook Islands to Tonga at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. The Toki, carved by Allan Tuara, a Mangaian historian and master carver, symbolizes the leadership responsibilities Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku assumes this week on behalf of the eighteen members of the Pacific Islands Forum.
In pre-missionary times, toki played an important role in Mangaian traditional ceremonies and were revered for their spiritual power and significance. They were only permitted to be carried onto the Marae by traditional priests.
Papa Tuara invested patience, care, and many long hours into creating the adze gifted to Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku. Each motif was intricately carved, the sennit carefully braided, and the adze head shaped by hand. The Toki features two Mangaian traditional motifs. The first, Maro Itiki—literally translated, "itiki" means bound together, and "maro" means loincloth—originates from the legend of two Mangaian warriors, brothers who used their loincloths to bind themselves together in battle, defending and protecting each other back to back. The design resembles two letter Ks, one reversed, back to back. In the context of the Pacific Islands Forum, Maro Itiki signifies the ties that bind the Pacific Islands Forum as a family, united to protect and draw strength from one another in times of adversity.
The second motif, Kavava (a raised cross forming a diamond shape), symbolizes a cleft in the makatea rocks of Mangaia—a path from the makatea to the beach, to the sea. On this adze, and for the Pacific, the Kavava signifies the journey from land to sea and across oceans that generations of Pacific people have shared and will continue to share into the future. The wood used is mahogany, in its natural coloring, and the adze head is made of basalt rock naturally formed on Mangaia, sourced from its valleys and hills, and is of traditional Mangaian adze design.
In bilateral talks hosted by Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku, the two leaders discussed a number of bilateral, regional, and multilateral issues and committed to continued close collaboration through the Forum Troika mechanism to support and deliver on the aspirations of Pacific Leaders as detailed in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the theme for PIFLM53 as articulated by Tonga—Transformative Resilient Pasifiki – Build Better Now.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Immigration would like to thank Papa Allan for the exceptional adze and his continued commitment to Mangaia's history and art. The description of the adze, including its historical linkages, was provided by Papa Allan and was gifted alongside the adze to Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku and the people of Tonga.